We have a winner folks! As reported by Reuters today, Drug Czar and obvious lunatic, John Walters, was speaking about hydroponic pot being imported from Canada and declared, "Canada is exporting to us the crack of marijuana and it is a dangerous problem".

Since the government in this country recognizes many people know that trying out marijuana will result in minimal harm, they love using the 'ol "this is not your hippie mother's pot" line. Trotting out this oldie but falsie claim, Walters explained to a group of youths that back in the day the THC content in marijuana was very low but today it is very high (no pun intended).

Runner up for most ridiculous quote of the year was given by Czar Walters in the same speech: "[Marijuana] is extremely dangerous. It is one of the reasons why we believe ... we have seen a doubling of emergency room cases involving marijuana in the last several years from 60,000 to 120,000". First of all, the federal government counts something as a "marijuana-related episode" if the word "marijuana" appears anywhere in the medical record. Cannabis.com tells us that "if a drunk driver admits he/she also smoked some marijuana, or if anyone involved in the incident merely possessed marijuana, the government counts the emergency room admission as a "marijuana-related episode."

Secondly, where is Walters getting his information? Even by the government's own biased calculations, marijuana was mentioned in just 97,000 emergency room visits in 2002. To put that in perspective, that equals about one-tenth of one percent of all emergency room visits that year. Again, keep in mind, that minuscule figure does not imply that marijuana was responsible for one-tenth of one percent of emergency room visits, just mentioned.

In level-headed Canadian fashion, Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin said that regardless of how loudly Mister Walter lies, Canada plans to end the barbaric practice of locking people up for possession of small amounts of marijuana.

So keep your eyes peeled for signs of a new wave of Reefer Madness and people running amok, smacked out on crazy crack-marijuana.

UpdateAir America Radio went to court today against Multicultural Radio, and won an injunction to put them back on the air. They expect to be broadcasting in Chicago tomorrow (4/16/04).

Breaking News!Air America, which is one of the few voices of reason on drug policy in this country, has been unjustly pulled off the air in Chicago due to an unrelated contract dispute involving the LA Air America station. Call Multicultural Radio at: 212-966-1059 and demand that our voice be put back on the air!